1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to litter retrieval tools and, in particular, is a tool with a plurality of spikes for piercing and retrieving litter and a discharging mechanism for discharging litter from the plurality of spikes. The invention is designed to work in coordination with a bucket having a wire handle.
2. Prior Art
Retrieving of litter has long been a nuisance. It has been a back-breaking job to pick litter up by hand. This invention will virtually eliminate the need to bend over and retrieve litter by hand.
Other inventions have tried to solved this problem in various ways. U.S. Pat. Nos. 1970093 and 3183031 are a couple of inventions which use a single spike mounted at the end of a tubular member. There are a couple of problems with this single spike tool for retrieving litter. First, it is sometimes hard to pierce hit a small piece of litter, such as a cigarette butt, with a single spike. Second, the trash or litter may easily fall off a single spike. However, my invention has a plurality of spikes at the end of the tubular member. With a plurality of spikes there is a better chance that one of the spikes will pierce the litter. Usually several of the spikes pierce the litter, retaining the litter more securely until ready for discharge.
There have been other inventions which have tried to solve the problem by using a plurality of spikes. These inventions used a plate with a plurality of holes matching the plurality of spikes allowing the plurality of spikes to protrude through. The plate is used for the purpose of discharging of litter from the plurality of spikes.
On Mar. 5, 1935 R. Belford, U.S. Pat. No. 1,993,314, invented a litter retrieving tool containing a plurality of spikes. There is a handle attached to the top end of a elongated hollow tubular member and at the bottom end of the elongated hollow tubular member is a plate containing the plurality of spikes. Inside the elongated hollow tubular member is a slidable shaft and attached to the slidable shaft is a plate containing a plurality of matching holes for the plurality of spikes. The plate is slidable over the plurality of spikes and the purpose of the plate is discharging litter. Mounted transversely at the other end of the slidable shaft is a smaller shaft. The smaller shaft protrudes through slits found in the elongated hollow tubular member. A handle, which is slidable over the elongated hollow tubular member, is fixed to the slidable shaft by the smaller shaft. The slidablity of the handle is controlled by the length of the slit in the elongated tubular member. Discharging of litter is accomplished by grasping the top handle with one hand and grasping the slidable handle with the other hand, whereby pushing downward on the slidable handle which is fixed to slidable shaft, will force the discharge plate downward to discharge the litter from the plurality spikes. This type of handle only allows discharging of litter.
But I, Donald F. Gatch, have added another dimension to the slidable handle. The handle I have designed is not fixed to the slidable shaft in the elongated hollow tubular member as inside U.S. Pat. No. 1,993,314. The handle a is short tubular member, with a larger inner diameter, which is slidable between the handle attached on top of the elongated tubular member and a flanged shaft protruding through slits found in the elongated hollow tubular member allowing movement independently of the discharge mechanism. Because the non-fixed slidable handle can work independently of the discharge mechanism, it can serve two functions. First, the handle can be used to discharge litter by grasping the top handle in one hand and grasping and pushing push downward on the non-fixed slidable handle with the other hand. This causes the bottom of the non-fixed slidable handle to butt against the flanged shaft, forcing the flanged shaft downward, which forces the discharge plate downward as well. This flanged shaft is only one part of several parts which make up the discharge mechanism, which discharges litter from the plurality of spikes. The flanged shaft of the discharge mechanism is mounted transversely through a larger slidable shaft inside the elongated hollow tubular member. Attached to the other end of the larger slidable shaft is a discharge plate. The discharge plate contains a plurality of holes matching the plurality of spikes, making the discharge plate slidable over the plurality of spikes. The second function of the non-fixed slidable handle is as a guide for the plurality of spikes. This is accomplished by grasping the non-fixed slidable handle with one hand and grasping the handle attached on top of the elongated hollow tubular member with the other and guiding the plurality spikes toward targeted litter. This can be very handy when litter lies in out of reach places, such as under low lying tree branches.
There were other patents with a plurality of spikes for retrieving litter. The following U.S. Pat. No. are representative: 1,246,487, 2,500,647, 2,738,215, 3,633,958 and 4,856,835. U.S. Pat. No. 2,500,647, inventor Ernest Shuithers; and U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,215, inventor B. Thompson are similar to my invention. These inventions use a discharging mechanism which is designed to be pushed down with a foot, forcing the discharge plate downward, discharging litter from the plurality of spikes. There are several problems with using your foot to operate the discharge mechanism,it is awkward to balance yourself on one foot while using the other foot to push the mechanism down while grasping the handle with your hands. You will need to be very coordinated to accomplish this motion without losing your balance. There is an even greater problem with this foot discharge mechanism. A foot can only be lifted a short distance from the ground. Therefore, whatever the litter is to be discharged into will have to be low to the ground. Inventor Bryan Thompson, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,738,215 says "The lever is operated by user's foot, so that the refuse can be discharged into a truck bed if desired." The only way this could be accomplished is by climbing in and out of the truck bed with the tool every time which is very inefficient.
But I, Donald F. Gatch, have designed a similar discharging mechanism which works with the wire handle of a bucket and can be used while carrying the bucket. These types of buckets are very common and come in various sizes, shapes and materials, such as metal or plastic. My discharge mechanism works like this: while carrying a bucket in one hand, and my invention in the opposite hand, the flanged shaft of the discharge mechanism can be latched into the wire handle of the bucket where the invention can then be drawn upward forcing the discharge plate downward discharging the litter from the plurality of spikes, whereby litter will fall into the bucket. This design of the discharging mechanism has a couple of advantages over a foot operated discharge mechanism. First, you do not need to be as coordinated to use this invention as with a foot operated discharge mechanism. Second, this invention is more efficient. When litter is retrieved, it can be discharged immediately or whenever desired into a bucket for temporary storage. The bucket can be emptied whenever desired, into a truck bed or larger trash container. If the truck bed happens to be near or convenient for receiving litter into, my invention has the capability of discharging the litter directly into back of the truck bed without having to climb in the back of the truck at all. This is accomplished by using the slidable handle, previously described, to discharge the litter from the plurality of spikes into the truck bed.